Both external and internal disk drives are typically associated with at least one disk drive status light, often used to provide an indication of disk drive read/write activity. In some disk drives, an external electrical connector couples the disk drive to a separate disk drive status light incorporated into a computer case or external disk drive case. The disk drive may then drive the status light during operation.
In other disk drives, the disk drive status light is formed integrally with the disk drive, and light emitted by the status light may be guided outside an external case holding the disk drive (e.g., via one or more holes in the external case). Unfortunately, when the disk drive status light is a component of the disk drive, the location of the status light may not be ideal for viewing by a user, due to space and configuration constraints on the disk drive. As a result, relatively complex light guides may be formed between the disk drive status light and a lens visible to the user. Since the lens is typically coupled to an external case of the disk drive, as the disk drive moves relative to the external case, stresses may be introduced into the physical components of the light guide system coupling the disk drive status light to the lens.
There is therefore a need for an improved light guide system between a disk drive status light and a lens.